SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A judge ruled Monday the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office lawsuit against the city's handling of homelessness can proceed, but scaled down.
District Attorney Thien Ho filed the suit in September 2023, claiming he feared for the safety of his employees and residents walking through encampments to get to the courthouse.
At a hearing last week, his office argued their suit should not be scaled down.
The case is broken down into three claims:
- The city’s alleged failure to enforce its laws regarding homelessness is a public nuisance.
- The city is allegedly violating the water code by not keeping parks and sidewalks clean from encampments.
- The city is allegedly violating fish and game code by allowing encampment to pollute waterways.
The judge issued a tentative ruling Friday saying there was a lack of evidence for the nuisance and water code claims, which was made official Monday.
Sacramento City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood issued the following statement in response to the judge's ruling:
“It has been clear from day one that the DA’s case was flawed from a legal perspective, and we are pleased the court has affirmed this by largely rejecting his arguments in its final ruling. While the DA may attempt to amend his complaint, the city is imploring him to do the right thing and bring this case to an end. The DA’s efforts have resulted in nothing more than a waste of taxpayer money and a drain on city, county and court resources. What this case has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt is that playing politics with homelessness helps no one. Right now, both the city and county of Sacramento need to be focused on providing outreach and support to unsheltered residents. It is time for the DA to finally abandon this exercise and start contributing to the ongoing work to create meaningful and lasting solutions to the homelessness crisis. As I have stated before, collaboration – not provocation – is the right path to success.”
Ho said Friday that regardless of the resolution, he considers it a win for the everyday person.
“Regardless of the resolution in the case, this case and this lawsuit has been a victory for the everyday person," said Ho. "It’s an everyday win because in the seven months since the lawsuit was filed, the city has done more enforcement and cleanup than in the seven previous years, and you can look at their own data dashboard and see that."
WATCH MORE ON ABC10: Sacramento business owner frustrated by lack of progress in resolving homeless crisis solutions
